Omniscient
by itsbeen20years
Summary: UPDATE 11/2020: Hi y'all, this story moved over to AO3, where I have the same user name as here (also: works/21698104/) TYSM! Set during G Revolution; Kai joins Neo Borg to finally beat Takao - he didn't plan to fall for Yuriy.


So I started translating my current fic, which by now has 9 chapters. It was originally postet on animexx.

A huge THANK YOU to my beta tshjortile who knows more about tenses than I do. Please note that we both aren't native speakers.

**Prologue: Bakuten**

Kai wasn't used to early morning workouts anymore. Ever since the BBA center had started to get crowded with Bladers as soon as it opened, he had started training in the evening. However, now that he was part of the BBA Revolution, he had to adjust to Hitoshi Kinomiya's schedule as well as keeping up with his own training. Apparently their new coach was adamant about keeping them busy for most of the day, so Kai had no other option but to switch to morning sessions again.

God, he hated it. The coffee didn't help either; he still was sleepy as he let himself into the building. He was the first to arrive, not even the person that usually sat at the help desk was there yet. The the lights flickered on as he moved. Slowly he made his way to the staircase in the back of the building, which led up to some exclusive rooms they always used for their private training sessions. The bowls in there, however, were way too small so they hardly ever really used them.

As he was about to climb the stairs, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He glanced at the display and was mildly surprised:

_So you're seriously telling me you rather go with Kinomiya than against him?_

Yuriy really must be desperate. It was the second time he asked him directly about joining his team Neo Borg, and the third in total. At first he made an official request to the BBA, but he wasn't the only one. After Rei and Max left, everybody and their mom seemed to think Kai would be available, too. Daitenji had shown him several letters, one of them from no other than Ralf Jürgens of the Euro team himself. And Yuriy's, of course. He didn't answer any of them, didn't know what to make of this. Instead he did the most untypical thing and stayed with what was left of the Bladebreakers.

Yuriy apparently refused to take no for an answer. Well, he was a former world champion and the leader of the Russian team after all - and patient as hell. Kai didn't know him that well, at least not anymore, but he was sure: if the redhead really wanted him for his team so badly he would chase him like the wolf did with the rabbit in the stupid Russian cartoon.

They hadn't seen each other in over a year. After Volkov was put in jail, he and the former Borg Bladers all were occupied with endless therapy sessions. For a while he thought they somehow bonded over this. Yuriy seemed fine. They could talk without killing each other and apparently they had been friends when they were kids. Kai remembered part of that, but Yuriy never had bothered to fill him in on all the details. However, they had stayed in contact since their first World Championships, even though their e-mail exchanges never lasted long.

Unlike Yuriy, Boris hated his guts. Admittedly, it was kind of mutual. He couldn't even say when it started or why. Maybe it had something to do with what happened when they were kids and Kai just had forgotten about it. Maybe Boris felt jealous because Yuriy was his best friend. Maybe it was because of what he did to Rei - Kai could forgive that but not forget.

Sergej never seemed to be interested in him at all. At first this had made him mad, because he had lost their battle, and being utterly ignored by someone who beat him so badly was really hurting his pride. But then he realised it was no use. And now he just was thankful that Sergeij apparently didn't care about him; Boris' hate towards him was enough. Same goes for Ivan, who seemed nice enough, but you never knew what was going on in his twisted little brain.

So yeah, they all shared the same fucked up childhood within the Abbey. Kai knew there still were a lot of white spots on the map of his memories, and he wasn't too eager to fill them in just yet.

For once, he didn't know what to do. Actually he had been improvising for quite some time now. There had been a moment when he had not wanted to participate in the tournament after all. But Shippu-no-Jin had turned up and pushed all the right buttons - which means he made Kai angry. Kai hated it when somebody thought they had him all figured out. So he dragged himself to the Japanese preliminaries just to almost get his butt kicked by that monkey boy Daichi. He still wasn't sure if it were his instincts or Suzaku that made him win the fight that day. Whatever it was, now he was here, was a part of Kinomiya's team, when in reality he only ever wanted to beat him, just like Max and Rei. So why didn't he leave? It wasn't like he had never done that before.

The truth was - there had been no team that he deemed strong enough. And a strong team he needed if he wanted to go against Kinomiya. Who knew how seriously the Russians took their training after the collapse of the Abbey? Apart from blading, they had their plates full, so they probably wouldn't stand a chance against the other teams, former world champions or not.

His thumb hovered over the phone while he was still thinking about a response. However, before he could type in something, the door in front of him opened and he found himself face to face with his new coach. Hitoshi Kinomiya looked surprised. "Kai! How did you get in?"

He put his phone back in his pocket. "I have a key card."

"But they only give these to the team managers."

"If you remember, I used to be the Bladebreakers' team captain."

Ever since he broke the masquerade as Shippu-no-Jin, Kai disliked the older Kinomiya. He was pretty sure that sentiment was mutual, even though Hitoshi acted stupidly nice around him. Both brothers always wanted to be on good terms with everybody. But contrary to Takao, Hitoshi was always scheming, always plotting a way to get the most out of his encounters. They could've been on common grounds but Kai had no respect for him whatsoever. He blamed Hitoshi for that.

"You're early." The coach followed him into the room, where Kai strolled over to the vending machine that sat in the corner and got himself another coffee.

"You too."

"I wanted to check all the training schedules again before we start. But now that you're here - how about we work on your attack pattern together?"

"I have my own schedule", Kai said matter-of-factly and took a sip from his can. He felt his phone vibrating again - what time was it in Russia anyway? It should be midnight in Moscow.

Hitoshi watched him as he was pulling out his phone, arms crossed.

_Stop playing around, Kai. My offer still stands, but not for long._

He cocked a brow and smirked. _Shouldn't you be sleeping?_, he responded.

"I think we should train as a team." Hitoshi didn't seem to like being ignored like that. "And don't you think you could learn something from me, too?"

"Hmmm." Kai hadn't been listening. If Hitoshi thought he could just show up, mess with him before the preliminaries and act all high and mighty around him now, he was wrong. He didn't know anything about Kai.

The phone in his hand lit up again.

_Just watch the Russian preliminaries and make your decision._

"Oh, would you please put that thing away?!", Hitoshi snapped.

Finally Kai looked at him. A smug grin appeared on his face as he put the phone on one of the shelves next to him. "And now… coach?", he asked sarcastically, leaning against the shelf and crossing his arms. The older Kinomiya apparently wasn't used to resistance; Kai wasn't used to listen to anyone, ever. Time to see how far he could take this.

Hitoshi nodded towards the bowl in the back of the room. "Well then. Show me your moves. You don't mind me watching you train, do you?" The way he said that left no doubt as to what he was thinking of Kai.

He pushed himself off the shelf and walked over to his coach. Even though there was enough room he came really close, never once moved his eyes away from Hitoshi, let his gaze wander across his body instead. He was making the other nervous, who couldn't hide his confusion. His mouth opened and Kai raised his brows questioningly, readying himself for more yelling.

Then the door behind them opened.

Kyoujyu seemed surprised to see them. "Oh, good morning! I thought I'd come in early to have a look at some data before we start…" He trailed off, hand still on the doorknob. Kai took a step back from Hitoshi, who relaxed visibly. The smile he sent towards Kyoujyu was still a bit stiff.

* * *

Even though everybody else started early that day, Kinomiya and Daichi were one hour too late. Hitoshi was not amused, to say the least. Kai, who was sitting on a chair making some adjustments on his Dranzer, barely could hide his smirk. It seemed that their new coach still had to learn some lessons about how to manage this team. If Kai had been in charge of training, nobody would have dared showing up late.

While both Kinomiyas were bickering, the TV programme on the big flat screen behind them switched from advertisements back to broadcasting the preliminaries around the world. Kai immediately recognized the Moscow stadium, even though some renovations had taken place since the first championships. He watched, careful not to show too much interest.

There was a white Beyblade in the bowl that was swiftly moving back and forth. Like his Dranzer, Wolborg was an endurance type with remarkable attack power, and one could clearly see that Yuriy hat improved quite a bit. His opponent was Sergeij, as Kai noticed when a second, blue blade came to view. He didn't stand a chance. Wolborg made a quick move and sent Seaborg flying.

The screen showed Sergeij's face. He didn't look disappointed, rather satisfied and content with himself. Then the camera turned to Yuriy. Kai was mildly surprised how much he had changed, though he couldn't quite grasp what it was exactly. The same red hair. The same ridiculously blue eyes. The same goddamn smirk in the corners of his mouth, like he knew more than everybody around him and kept it secret on purpose.

The picture changed again, now there were some blinking stats that showed Yuriy had just won the B block while Boris already got first in the A block. They would be partners. Sergeij also joined the team, but because Boris totally shattered his opponent there was no fourth blader. Yet.

Kai turned away and looked at Dranzer in his hand. So Yuriy was strong after all; that confidence had to be justified by something. They surely would get along somehow, if he could keep Boris at arm's length, and it would be a perfect opportunity to finally see if he was better than Kinomiya. Of course Yuriy knew, too, that this was what Kai really wanted. It was an open secret, as the rivalry between Kai and Kinomiya was legendary by now. Nobody had dared to make use of this as obviously as the redhead.

"Alright, let's start training!" Kinomiya grabbed Daichi by the arm and dragged him along to the bowls. "Hey Kai! Quit moping, come on!"

He rolled his eyes and stood up to go over to his corner where he let Dranzer slalom around some plastic cones. He could do this blindfolded, so he let his mind wander for a bit.

Why was he so considerate all of a sudden? He never really cared what the other Bladebreakers thought of him - though he hadn't been in a "Kai is leaving the team again"-situation for a while. Maybe he had grown soft. But then the team didn't even exist anymore! Max and Rei made their decisions and left before it was too late. His own timing, however, was bad as usual. He hadn't even wanted to participate in the first place. But then Jin happened and his pride forced him to register for the preliminaries. He was a blader after all, and moreover, he was one of the best in the world. Back then it didn't seem to matter that much if he was with or against Kinomiya. They had been in the same team for years now.

It seemed like a thoughtful decision and would have played out well, if he hadn't had to battle Daichi beforehand. Shortly before their match, he overheard him and the others. Daichi had been furious when he realized he wouldn't get the chance to fight Kinomiya, even if he'd win. He talked something about this whole tournament not being worth the hassle if there was no chance he could battle the world champion. Somehow these words stuck with Kai. He actually wanted to back out in the last second. So he tried to let Daichi beat him, and that was seriously the dumbest plan he ever came up with.

Dranzer jumped up to his hand and Kinomiya, who apparently had been watching him the entire time, cheered loudly. Kai looked up and his eyes met Hitoshi's. The look on his face told it all: he knew something was up with Kai. Of course he had seen the requests from the other teams, too, since him and Daitenji were somewhat best friends. Kai felt anger rising within him. Did Hitoshi really think he would give in that easily, after all he had done as Shippu-no Jin?

He turned around to look out of the window to hide his anger from the others. There was Bakuten, the warm evening sun changing the city's colors. Not too far away there was the big stadium where all the official beyblade tournaments took place. Where he battled Kinomiya and had lost to him for the first time. Apart from that, he didn't feel at home here. He rather spent his free time in Tokyo. He didn't even feel obliged to do something for his hometown, nevertheless the local beyblade team.

So what should he do? Stay with the ones he considered his friends and reject his maybe last chance to beat Kinomiya? Join the Russians, even though there still were secrets hidden in their shared past that he didn't really want to uncover?

* * *

In the evening he went up to the lookout point that was on a hill above the city. He sat down on a bench and lit a cigarette. During daytime the area was buzzing with tourists, but as soon as it went dark nobody came up here, so he felt safe enough not to be caught. He was always careful, so his missteps never became public.

It got colder. He moved his shoulders; his muscles were a bit sore after training today. Then he took his phone and looked at the display. There were two more messages, but they were from a person he didn't want to talk to right now.

Kai spent a few seconds just smoking and looking at his phone. Then he sighed and dialed a number. This call was going to be expensive.

"Slushayu vas." There was music in the background and Kai was surprised that he recognized the song. David Bowie.

"Eto ya", he said and leaned back. The other one laughed, then the music was turned down.

"And there I thought you made a deal with Kinomiya that the two of you would wrestle for the title after the tournament."

He knew his voice, but his tone had changed over the last year. Suddenly he remembered how as children they always tried to speak low, just to appear older. Now nature had taken care of that.

Kai let his cigarette burn out and looked up into the sky. "But that wouldn't be the same as really beating him, right?"

"I knew you would come to your senses", Yuriy said. "So you're in?"

"Yes", Kai repeated.

* * *

Slushayu vas - "I hear you" / "I am listening to you" (also: How can I help you?), used when picking up the phone

Eto ya - "It's me"


End file.
